Blog

10
Apr, 2017

Friends of Sebago Lake has filed a letter with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding SAPPI’s reduced outflow management since last summer. This management establishes a dangerous precedent for this year and future years. The minimum and reduced outflows will increase the probability for flowage easement trespass damaging flooding. With this reduced storage capacity in the spring time, a much higher probability of the magnitude and duration of flood events will occur. As our letters states, SAPPI can not use the excuse of having an excessive rain event to blame for flooding. Hopefully, we will have a gradual snowpack melt and no appreciable rainfall for several weeks.

The docket P-2984 accession number for our letter is 21070405-5241.

FERC has not posted our letter as of yet for they cite they are having electronic filing difficulties. We have been assured that it is officially on the docket.

FOSL has received notification from the Maine Board of Environmental Protection that on Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 9 am at the Augusta Civic Center, the BEP will consider the appeals of Friends of Sebago Lake, Douglas Watts, and Ed Friedman of Friends of Merrymeeting Bay. This appeal is about another one year extension of time for SAPPI and participating parties in a private agreement for fish passage at Sacarappa Dam in Westbrook.

What really is at stake is the removal of fish passage requirements upstream on the Presumpscot River at Gambo and Dundee dams.

Victory for SAPPI and the SA participants will spell out an end of hope to restoring the natural sea run fishery in the mid to upper Presumpscot and the Sebago Lake watershed. FOSL will still file additional appeals if the BEP rules unfavorably. We are willing to take this attack upon the Clean Water Act all the way to the US Supreme Court.

Hope to see many of you at the meeting.

*Please distribute this information to those that might be interested or impacted.